Actually Madison said it best
In response to M.B.Craft’s letter of Oct. 31, I cannot substantiate the reference to this country being a democratic republic. A Wikipedia.org listing does not include the United States. We are a Constitutional representative republic.
However, Mary is right to state that we are a combination of republic and democracy, since we have been drifting from the original design of a republic toward a democracy for at least 200 years. The drift towards democracy facilitates government power to expand and usurp power from the people.
The first amendment of the Constitution guaranteed free speech only until 1807 when the Constitution was rejected by the next generation 19 years after its ratification in 1788. Witness the left’s response at Brown University, to NYC Police Chief Ray Kelly just last week, where Kelly was shouted down and did not get to speak. OK, I’m kidding, sort of. Kelly was shouted down, but the Constitution was not rejected outright 19 years after ratification.
Instead it has been declared a “living Constitution,” which means it is dead. The term “living” is the concept that the Constitution must adapt to changing times; and so changes in the form of amendments; legislating from the bench by the Supreme Court, using case-law and precedent; executive orders from the executive branch; unconstitutional laws passed by Congress; ratified treaties given higher priority than the Constitution; and shear force of usurpation by many presidents, has slowly killed the Constitution and made it completely irrelevant. Hence the drift from Republic to democracy. And did I mention an ignorant and complacent citizenry?
The Constitution is not a “living” document. It is the “Supreme Law of the Land;” it is the master plan for the United States; it is the standard measure for gauging the nation's laws and institutions; it is the owner’s manual. It and the second amendment are often all that stand between you and enslavement. The Constitution protects the people from an overreaching government, from big government, from intrusive government. Well, it would, if we paid attention to it. Alas, the people have allowed their government to destroy it completely. Our politicians swear to God to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution; but like Obamacare, they never read it, and most of them don’t believe in God! Then we wonder why our politicians don’t know what they are doing.
So now that the Constitution is a “curiosity under glass” at the National Archives Building in D.C., we still remember something about “free speech” in the First Amendment. But every freedom has responsibilities, and “free speech” is no different. Originally, certain forms of expression were outside the protection of the First Amendment: endangering national security or public safety; soliciting crime or violence; incitement; obscenity; and defamation. And of course, freedom of speech means we must tolerate speech we disagree with. Clearly the Constitution is dead and irrelevant in light of Brown University.